How to Start a Fire in a Cold Chimney
Avoid smoking up your home when you first light a fire in a cold fireplace. The trick is to create a torch with rolled-up newspaper and use it to warm up the smoke chamber before starting your fire.
- Difficulty:
- Easy
Instructions
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-
1
Open the damper fully. Start preparing the fire as you normally would with adequate paper, kindling and seasoned firewood.
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2
Slightly open a window in the room where the fireplace is located.
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3
Roll a few sheets of newspaper to form a torch. It should be tightly twisted on the end you hold and loose on the end you will light.
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4
Light the torch and hold it up to the damper to heat the smoke chamber.
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5
When the chimney seems to draw well, light the fire.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Wear gloves to protect your hand from falling burning embers, and don't look up into the chimney while warming it.
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Comments
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Nov 22, 2005
Using a hair dryer on the hot (high) setting has a two fold advantage. First, you are forcing the flue to draft in the right direction and secondly, you are heating the system much faster. Holding a paper torch will often blow ashes and debris back into the room with the risk of setting something on fire. -
Nov 22, 2005
Using a hair dryer on the hot (high) setting has a two fold advantage. First, you are forcing the flue to draft in the right direction and secondly, you are heating the system much faster. Holding a paper torch will often blow ashes and debris back into the room with the risk of setting something on fire.
